David Lynch, “Twin Peaks” co-creator and “Mulholland Drive ”director, dies at 78

David Lynch, the acclaimed filmmaker who blended dreamlike surrealism with mystery and melodrama in films like Mulholland Drive and television projects like Twin Peaks, has died at 78.

"It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch," the filmmaker's family shared on Facebook Thursday. "We would appreciate some privacy at this time. There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, 'Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.' It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way."

A cause of death was not immediately available.

In August, Lynch announced that he had been diagnosed with emphysema in 2020 "from smoking for so long, and so I'm homebound whether I like it or not." However, he refused to let the diagnosis get in the way of his artistry, announcing, "I will never retire."

Lynch is perhaps best known as the co-creator of the monumental mystery series Twin Peaks alongside Mark Frost. He received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive, and won an Academy Honorary Award in 2019. His film Wild at Heart earned the Palme d’Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.

Lynch’s unmistakable directorial voice gave a great sense of continuity across his body of work; his unique and constant fascination with dreamlike rhythms, character doppelgangers, ambient soundscapes, and the dark side of American culture has led critics and cinephiles to describe works with similar qualities as "Lynchian."

Related: David Lynch's best movies and TV shows, ranked

Born in Missoula, Montana, in 1946, Lynch first studied as a painter at three different art schools on the East Coast. After experimenting with short filmmaking in Philadelphia, Lynch moved to Los Angeles with his first wife, Peggy, and eldest daughter, Jennifer, in the early 1970s so he could study at the American Film Institute Conservatory. He spent much of the 1970s working on his debut feature, Eraserhead, which released in 1977 and subsequently gained a cult following as a midnight movie.

Lynch received praise for his next feature film, the stylish black-and-white biography The Elephant Man. The film starred John Hurt as Joseph (John) Merrick, an English man with severe physical deformities who was largely shunned by society, and Anthony Hopkins as Frederick Treves, a doctor who befriended Merrick. The film earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

His next project was an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel Dune in 1984. Though the film was a critical and financial failure, it also gained a cult following and marked Lynch’s first project with longtime collaborator Kyle MacLachlan.

Lynch and MacLachlan reteamed for 1986’s Blue Velvet, a graphic and occasionally surreal neo-noir that spawned controversy and critical acclaim. The film also starred Laura Dern, Dennis Hopper, and Isabella Rossellini.

1990 was a seminal year in Lynch’s career: his film Wild at Heart, starring Nicolas Cage and Dern, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and his beloved television series Twin Peaks premiered on ABC. Lynch directed the pilot of the series, as well as an additional episode in the first season and four more episodes in the second, including the finale.

Related: David Lynch announces album with Twin Peaks actress: a look back on some of his wildest non-directing projects

The series starred MacLachlan as Dale Cooper, an FBI agent who investigates the murder of high schooler Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) in a mysterious Washington town. Twin Peaks explored the dark side of Americana using elements of detective stories, soap operas, and horror, and Lynch himself appeared as the recurring character Gordon Cole. Though the series was canceled after its second season, Lynch explored its characters and mythos further with the 1992 prequel film Fire Walk With Me, as well as a Showtime revival in 2017.

Lynch made two more attempts at television with the sitcom On the Air and the HBO anthology Hotel Room before returning to feature filmmaking in 1997 with Lost Highway, an opaque noir thriller starring Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette that further solidified his unique directorial voice. His most uncharacteristic project, Disney’s G-rated The Straight Story, came two years later. The film followed the true story of an elderly Iowa man (Richard Farnsworth) who rode a lawnmower 300 miles to reunite with his ailing brother (Harry Dean Stanton).

The filmmaker returned to Cannes in 2001 with Mulholland Drive, a multilayered, surreal drama about Hollywood that many consider Lynch’s magnum opus. The film stars Naomi Watts as an aspiring actress and Laura Harring as an amnesiac who are both swept into a labyrinth of artifice, violence, mystery, and betrayal. The film earned Lynch his third nomination for Best Director at the Oscars, and he won the prize for Best Director at Cannes, alongside Joel Coen (who won for The Man Who Wasn’t There).

Lynch released his final feature film, Inland Empire, in 2006. The film, which stars Dern, Justin Theroux, and Jeremy Irons, is another meditation on Hollywood, blurring the lines between layers of fiction and dizzyingly captured with a digital camcorder.

Related: David Lynch talks Inland Empire, sawing wood, and not bringing a new film to Cannes

It was over a decade until the filmmaker released his swansong, the 18-episode Showtime revival of Twin Peaks titled The Return, in 2017. Lynch directed every episode of the series, which reunited most of the original cast and brought other past collaborators like Dern and Watts into the fold. Lynch also reprised his role as Gordon Cole for the series. The Return was heralded as one of the best shows of the year, and certain journals like Cahiers du cinéma and Sight & Sound considered it among the best films of 2017 despite its length.

Lynch also made occasional acting appearances in other projects, including Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans and 20 episodes of The Cleveland Show.

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In his final interview with EW in 2022, Lynch discussed remastering Inland Empire and explained how the process made him hopeful for the future of filmmaking. “All the picture had a new life, and it was a great new life,” Lynch told EW. “It was a kind of a miracle to go from Sony BD150 quality to where it is now. It means that the future is gonna be fantastic for films, for cinema. It's amazing what is going on. The picture got way better. It got more focus and a deeper look. From what I first had to now: big, big, big beautiful change.”

A longtime advocate for Transcendental Meditation, the filmmaker oversaw the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and Peace, which provided scholarships for young people seeking to learn about the practice. He also continued painting throughout his filmmaking career, produced multiple musical projects, and directed dozens of short films, music videos, and commercials.

Lynch is survived by his wife, Emily Stofle, and four children, including Jennifer Lynch, who directed films like Boxing Helena and Surveillance, as well as episodes of shows like The Walking Dead and American Horror Story.

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